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Elizabeth Lavenza
Elizabeth Lavenza is a major character from Mary Shelley's ''Frankenstein''. She is the adoptive daughter of Alphose and Caroline Beaufort and the adoptive cousin/wife of Victor Frankenstein. A pretty, young woman adopted into the Frankenstein family household, Elizabeth falls in love with Victor and eventually marries him, but was murdered by the Monster on his quest of revenge against his creator Victor Frankenstein. Description Elizabeth Lavenza is one of the most important people in Victor's life; if not his most special and beloved. She was taken into the home at a young age and the both of them became close as children and fall in love with each other as adults. She was loved and adored by the family and wasn't always seen as just a foster child. She would also fill in the role of a mother-figure; such as when her adoptive mother Caroline Beaufort passes away, she says to her that she must "supply her place". With her stereotypical maternal roles and duties, she can also be a mother and a sister to Victor; not just his future wife. She is even considered to be a feminine character with the role she had played since the beginning of the novel. Elizabeth is also a source of information to Victor. She is the one who mostly writes letters to him on some updated information about their family and are a major importance in the novel. She is perhaps the one person Victor had depended on the most than anyone. While he didn't get to spend much more quality time with her in his adulthood, she was still looking forward to their upcoming marriage. Like Victor, Elizabeth was deeply affected by the tragic deaths caused by her lover's creation, such as William Frankenstein and Justine Moritz. But she still had Victor to be with and to be safe with. Unfortunately, not even her happiness with him could save her from being strangled by the Monster on her wedding night, which was an even more devastating blow to Victor. Storyline Early Life with the Frankenstein's In the original 1818 edition, Elizabeth is the daughter of an Italian gentleman and his wife, who was Alphose Frankenstein's sister and Victor Frankenstein's cousin. After the sister married the Italian man at a younger age, she and her new husband lived together in her native country, and Alphose had very little contact with her. When the sister dies, Alphose's brother-in-law entrusts him to take in his young daughter to raise alongside his son Victor, who was around 4 years old at the time. Elizabeth was an infant at the time of her mother's passing and a fortune was secured with her. Alphose travelled to Italy to retrieve Elizabeth and bring her back home to Geneva into his family home. In the 1831 edition, Elizabeth is the orphaned daughter of a Milanese man and a German woman. After her mother died giving birth to her, the father placed her in the care of a poor Italian family, who already had other children of their own to raise. The father attempted to gain freedom of his country from Austria, but had either died or was imprisoned in an Austrian prison. His property was confiscated and his only daughter was left penniless. Elizabeth was the only fair, blonde-haired child of all the dark-eyed, dark-haired children of her foster parents. When Caroline Beaufort was travelling to Milan with her husband Alphose, they went to the Lake Como district where they visited the poor families' homes. She discovered Elizabeth in the household of one of the families when visiting their house. Since Beaufort really wanted to have a daughter and saw how beautiful the young girl was, she asks the Italian parents if she could take her home with her. After turning to their local priest, the Italians let Beaufort adopt Elizabeth and bring her home to Geneva, where the Frankenstein family lived with their 4-5 year old son Victor. Victor and Elizabeth grew up together. He saw her as his companion than just his adoptive sister, and the two of them are close, even sometimes calling each other 'cousin'. She was loved and adored by the whole family, and she enjoyed reading poetry and viewing the beautiful scenery around her. About 7 years after being taken into the Frankenstein home, Elizabeth's adoptive brother Ernest was born, followed by another brother named William a few years later. Family Tragedies When she was in her mid teens, Elizabeth fell severely ill with scarlet fever. She was nursed back to health by her adoptive mother. She recovers, but Mrs. Beaufort falls ill and dies shortly afterwards. While at their mother's deathbed, Mrs. Beaufort tells both Victor and Elizabeth that she hopes they would get married one day, and asks Elizabeth to take over as a mother-figure and caregiver to the younger children. After Mrs. Beaufort's death, Elizabeth and the family went into mourning, and she bid an emotional farewell to Victor as he departs to the University of Ingolstadt while she is left at home to look after her younger siblings and the family home. For the next several months, Elizabeth had no contact with Victor while he was in Ingolstadt and she continued to help out at the family home in his absence. Around November, she manages to write him a letter, after hearing that he was too ill and weak to contact her while he was being treated by his friend Henry Clerval. In the letter, she describes the latest updates back at home. She explains that their father is very eager to see him, and their younger brother Ernest is now 16 years old and dreams of being part of the foreign service army in a different country, although she comments that he would need some guidance. She adds that Justine Moritz, a young girl who the Frankenstein's were close with, had just moved into the family following the death of her mother. The youngest brother, William, is already growing up and is loved by everyone. Months later, in mid May, William suddenly disappears while Elizabeth, Alphose and Ernest were out on a walk. She assumed that he went back home but he wasn't there and everyone searches in vain for William. She was worried about her youngest sibling and when William's corpse was brought back home, she examined him and fainted in anguish, believing she had caused his death. When she was awoken, she breaks down into tears. She says that she had given William a locket with a miniature portrait of their mother, and it is nowhere to be found on him. Soon afterwards, Justine was falsely accused of William's death after the locket was found in her apron pocket, and Victor didn't found out about it until he came home. Both Elizabeth and Victor refuse to believe that Justine is a murderer, and they try to prove her innocence, as he had told it to her upon seeing her again. She began to cry while her father tried to comfort her. On the day of Justine's trial, Elizabeth was chosen to be among the witnesses to testify, while Justine remained calm. She comes forward and explained about her relationship with Justine, stating that she is a kind and friendly girl who once nursed her dying aunt, and convinced the court that she believes in her friend's innocence against the evidence pointed to her. Justine was convicted and sentenced to death. Elizabeth is told by Victor that she had confessed, which upsets her deeply. She agrees to go with him to visit Justine, and the two girls cried when they saw each other. Elizabeth consoles Justine and listens as her friend claimed that she was forced to confess a lie so that she can face salvation. Elizabeth tells her that she would do anything to save her from the gallows by proving her false accusation. Both she and Victor stayed with Justine for a while when she bid both of them farewell and ready for her execution, which happens the next day. Elizabeth had even commented that she wished she could die with her. The Frankenstein's retreated to their cottage at Belrive shortly after Justine's death. Elizabeth becomes depressed, doesn't do her usual hobbies, and wasn't the same happy woman she always was after the two terrible tragedies. She even recalled to Victor that she no longer see the world the way it is after the execution of her dearest friend. She knew that Justine was innocent, and that the murderer of William and Justine is still out there. She tries to console Victor and tells him to try to get over his dark thoughts, since he still had his family and friends to be with him. But while she and the others were asleep, Victor slips out of the house and travels to Chamonix, where he would later encounter his monster creation and urged him to make a female monster for him. Marriage to Victor/Murder Elizabeth once again finds herself on her own while Victor is away from her. Upon his return, he begins to feel distressed. He agrees on the idea of marrying her, but would put the wedding on hold and travels to England. Elizabeth and Alphose could see that he wasn't himself and they decide to have Henry Clerval accompany him on his journey. Elizabeth and Victor would be married upon his return. While her soon-to-be husband was away, Henry was murdered by the Monster and Victor was nearly accused of the crime until Alphose comes to him and brings him home. Elizabeth writes Victor another letter while he was in Paris. She expresses her worry on him since his stressed, anxious behaviour and that she is miserable whenever she was alone. She's awaiting their wedding that their mother had hoped would happen eventually, but is worried that he would be in love with someone else during the time he was always away. But she says that she still loves him and would understand him. She soon gets a response from him, revealing that he wants to be married immediately but that he has a terrible secret from her. She welcomes Victor home with open arms, but she had changed and wasn't the lively and cheerful woman she had been before. When Victor began experiencing fits of madness, she manages to help him, and the couple begin to look forward to their upcoming wedding with pleasure, while the preparations were being made. Ten days later, Elizabeth and Victor were married and prepare to travel to their honeymoon destination at a cottage in Lake Como. They spend the night at Evian before travelling to their destination. Victor begins to feel anxious and frightened, while Elizabeth tries to comfort him and view at the beauty of nature. Upon arriving at their cottage after sunset, a storm begins to brew. Elizabeth was asked to stay confined into her room while Victor keeps a lookout for his monster who vows to be with him on his wedding night. But while she was alone in her room, the monster enters. She screams in terror as the monster strangles her to death. Victor arrives just in time to see her body on the floor and the monster escapes. He becomes insane with grief and sets out to destroy his creation, while Elizabeth was laid to rest in a local Geneva cemetery with her deceased family members. Personalities/Appearance Elizabeth was an angelic and beautiful young woman, whose beauty makes her lovable by her relatives. When she was discovered by Caroline Beaufort while in an Italian family's foster care, she noted how the young girl was among the most prettiest of the children and that it made her into wanting to adopt her. She is friendly and loving towards her adoptive parents and her siblings, mostly to Victor. She is understanding of his suffering and seemed to be patient when he told her he had a terrible secret and is wanting to wait for the right moment to tell it to her. In addition, she acts as a mother-figure towards her foster siblings. After Mrs. Beaufort dies, she is told to take her place and raise the younger children as their mother. She can also be maternal towards Victor, as she would welcome him back home with open arms and gave him the source of information from their family. She is dutiful to her tasks and protective of the younger boys, mainly to William. After the youngest child disappears, Elizabeth became anxious and afraid for him, and when his body was brought back, she was so hysterical that she faints in shock. She even went on to believe she had caused his death. Elizabeth is often described as having blonde hair with curls and blue eyes, which is the definitive example of her being beautiful. Relationships Victor Frankenstein- Elizabeth's cousin and husband. After being taken into the family at a very young age, she became a playmate towards him as a child, and as an adult, she loves him unconditionally. She is often concerned about him whenever he is feeling depressed or stressed out, but knew that she will soon one day become his wife. Justine Moritz- A young girl taken into the Frankenstein family. Elizabeth is close to Justine and is like a sister to her. But after Justine was accused and convicted of William's death, Elizabeth tried everything to prove Justine is innocent, but not even her kindness could save her foster sister from execution. Justine's death causes Elizabeth to slowly lose her own innocence. Category:Female characters Category:Characters Category:Love interests Category:Major Characters Who Die At The End Category:Deceased characters Category:Wives